People do crazy things. We had a patient from the local prison who was regularly brought in by ambulance after swallowing anything from forks to writing pens, syringes, toothbrushes, even razor blades. At which point we’d be called to provide anesthesia so the endoscopist could go down with their scopes...
A lot of people’s jobs are probably like this. Mostly boring, sometimes terrifying: military, police, fire, window washers, lion tamers. Anesthesia and pilots have been compared for years for these same reasons. The incidence of fatal accidents in the commercial airline industry is about one in a million, while...
In the business, we’re called MDAs or CRNAs. It’s easier and quicker. This is a sensitive topic to many people in the corporate anesthesia world. When I’m asked to compare MDAs and CRNAs, I get a feeling the question really being asked is, “Who’s better?” On a national level,...
It’s been a record-breaking winter in Minnesota. With snow piled high, an endless chain of dreary skies, and frozen, dirty stalactites dangling from the wheel wells of my car, I might be tempted to sulk. Then I walk into the pre-op area and start interviewing patients. (The names, I make...
Over my forty years practicing anesthesia, it has become incredibly safe. In the 1970s and 80s, anesthesia malpractice insurance premiums were out-of-this-world, and for good reason. Since pulse oximetry and other improvements in monitoring, training and medications, our insurance premiums are now some of the lowest of all. That being...